Monday, 31 May 2010

Everybody needs a good whinge every now and then, the cathartic effect is obvious and often much needed. As the people around me (and especially the various managers I've had over the years... =) will know very well - I'll bitch and moan with the best of them, it's in our very nature!

The difference between the occasional grouch and an insufferable old fart, however, is the step taken after the gripe. All that energy that went into the wail has got to lead somewhere, otherwise it's just a useless load of noise. For example, don't like your job? Quit. Can't quit? Take steps to make your job better. Don't like your family? Move out. Can't move out? Make peace. Can't make peace? Run away. Don't like your relationship? End it. Can't end it? Stop being a wimp. Don't like your life? Change it. Can't change it? You're not trying hard enough. Think you're already trying as hard as you can? Try harder.

If you're grumbling then it's coz you're not happy about something. If you're not happy about something then there's always something you can do, without fail.

I absolutely refuse to believe that there is ever no choice. It's all down to what you're willing to accept to make those choices available. If you don't/can't/won't take the steps to open new doors - then you only get to complain about the same thing to the same person three times. After that you're gonna have to find somebody new to yammer to, coz unless you've shown that you're actually trying to course-correct - that first person will have stopped listening after the second time. What do you expect them to do? You can't help someone who's unwilling to help themselves.

Hungry? Go make a sandwich.Don't know how to make a sandwich? Learn.

Oooh... the view is quite nice from way up here. Door's always open. =D

Saturday, 29 May 2010

Part of the reason why the Great Roadtrip of Japan was so fun was how it became about something so much more than two mates caning around in a convertible. It became about touching all those near-mythical places we'd dreamed about as we were growing up. After all, how many people can say that they've visited 90% of the actual courses used in Initial D?

I'm thinking that my American Roadtrip is also gonna need some kinda extra purpose. Something for me to pursue as I meander my way along. A photo project, a treasure hunt, a bodycount? My own personal cannonball run...

Thursday, 27 May 2010

I live just south of the central part of Taipei, my workplace is out in the north eastern part of town, past other side of the river.

If I time it right, I'll only need to stop for red lights three times on my commute across the city. "Timing it right" means hammering it down from the first light outside my apartment and not letting the revs drop too low for any significant amount of time. My engine is a solid lil workhorse but having spent most of it's 15yr life as a rental bike means that it's not as spritely as it might've once been. It'll keep cruising speed quite readily - just takes a wee bit of time getting up there.

Most days this means I'll get to work in around 25mins door-to-door. If I get blocked by a swervy taxi or an overenthusiastic truck driver though this'll throw me out of sync with the lights and my journey time will easily increase to around 35mins. That's like a 40% increase in time taken!

Amazing what a single misstep can do. There's a lot I can accomplish in those 10minutes!

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

I have classes where, were it not for one kid in that class, they'd be the smoothest running classes in the world. It doesn't have to be the typical misfit broody rebel gangser wannabe, it might just as easily be the one who is so hilarious - he makes the rest of us laugh the whole way through until I realise that we haven't actually gotten anything done. Great for the occasional boring session, gets tiring when it's every lesson and you're trying to make sure they all meet the requirements for the next big test.

So whenever those kids are absent for whatever reason. I'm always amazed at these kids sitting in front of me - it's like they're lil genius angels!

It applies elsewhere as well. Sometimes it really is a case of surgically removing the disruptive elements from our lives so that we may properly focus.

Just like the kid who's not actually naughty, just extremely distracting - these things are called guilty pleasures for a reason - I could take away most of my tech and be no less bored, it'd certainly free up a lot of my time and I might actually be able to sleep at night. But I haven't and I don't coz I'm still a weak puny human with puny human tolerance levels.

But in truth, I wouldn't be here and as comfortable with myself as I am today, if I hadn't applied this logic a while back. I wasn't happy with my situation, it was leading me down a dark road, so I walked away from all the negative influences in my life. Of course it's never such a clean differentiation and I've sacrificed a lot of good ties as collateral, but what I've found is that this is where you discover where your bonds are strongest. Cut the crap away and see what strands are left, those are the chains who are gonna stay with you a long long time. Still gotta be able to recognise the good chains from the bad chains though.

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

I wear my watch facing the inside of my wrist to stop myself scratching up the face, I'm not all that co-ordinated.

But I originally started wearing it this way because that's how my Dad wears his watch.

I'll order the fish burger nine times outta ten now because living in Asia has made me appreciate the value of a true, honest, flame-grilled bloody rare steak. Asia is still figuring how to cook a hunk of cow, but they definitely know how to do fish.

But everytime I order the fillet-o-fish I'll remember my Grandfather, in McD's, it was the only thing he could eat.

For all the major influences I have received from my family. It's the little legacies that I love the most. =)

Sunday, 23 May 2010

No idea what we were looking at - But everytime I see this pic, I see an extra nuance. Am I looking at her? Am I looking at what she's looking at? Is that puzzlement on my face? Or is that the beginnings of a smirk? How comes I've never directly seen that look on her face myself?

Sunday, 16 May 2010

Social engineering. The trick is not to actually forcibly make anyone do what you want them to do - positive or negative.

Prepare the idea in the right way, use the right lighting and wrap it up with the right bow - often all that remains to be done is to allow the opportunities to present themselves to the right parties.

How do you know what's right? Easy! Practise makes perfect. ;)

(Otherwise known as a more pedantic, targeted version of the "Throw Everything At It And See What Sticks" approach)

Thursday, 13 May 2010

One of my most spouted claims is that I've been living without regret since 2004... but having just witnessed the horror that is the condition under my bed - I really really wish I'd plumped for that Roomba six months ago... Yikes! (>.

Monday, 10 May 2010

Every Tuesday, there's a lady with a truck load of pies who sets up a stand just outside our school. I usually buy a variety box and bring it up to the school for everyone to share. Coz her pies are pretty popular, she sometimes saves me a box whenever she's selling them especially fast.

I've also gotten to know the girls at the milk chocolate/crepe store down the road, and I'm going paintballing with the guy who owns the bag shop next to them.

This never happened in England or Japan. When did I become this crazy sociable creature? (O_o)

Friday, 7 May 2010

The person I am today is not the person I really am. That is to say - the person I am today, is somewhere in between the person I would otherwise be, and the person I aspire to be.

Some people are naturally, effortlessly cool, charismatic, great conversationalists, have interesting hobbies, all that great stuff.

I am none of those things, at least not without a degree of effort. Neither are most people.

Left to our own devices, the majority would stay at home, scratch our privates, sniff it, drink straight out of the milk carton, all that great stuff. The majority would also be wishing that we could be something more.

And thats the point: Why just wish, when you could actually take the steps and start doing. Remove the initial "No Way!" reaction from the equation and really - Really - anybody could do anything after all. You just gotta get pass that mental block. Heh.

The advice "Just Be Yourself" is actually pretty crappy when you think about it - sure there are people out there who make things look damn easy - but they're not the ones who tend to receive motivational tips. "Be Yourself" is not helpful when most people are lazy, whiny, twisted slobs (No use hiding it, we all know).

Perhaps a better one to take heed would be more along the lines of;

"Stop Whining Dammit And Be Who You Want To Be."

It's not gonna be an overnight transformation, we are talking about Real Life here.

But you start living the life you wanna live for long enough, eventually it'll turn into the life you're actually living.

Monday, 3 May 2010

I'm always interested to see the reasons that vegetarians choose to be so. Often it will be coz of religion, lifestyle, family, but the one I love - is when they tell me they don't want to eat dead flesh. The Food With A Face concern.

It was Roald Dahl's - The BFG that first showed me the concept of lateral views on life. It's easy to grasp the negative concept of killing animals coz we can see the blood when they die, we relate to that with our own blood.

But while we consider plants to be alive, people rarely spare a second thought when plucking a flower from the ground or munching on some delicious dead veggies. But Dahl told me that flowers will scream if you can listen carefully enough. I was a young and dumb kid, I could see the logic in that. Now that I'm older and dumber, I still don't see why not.

There's also that whole soul, self-aware and existence-of-consciousness thing. Dahl's View still applies here, just coz we can't see it - who's to say its not there? A friend told me that there are massive debates as to when an egg becomes a life. Wow.

Sometimes we become so focused on defining our world into something comprehendible that we lose sight of what is important:

If you're lucky enough to find in front of you a steak dinner with a side of eggs, mushrooms and veggies. Appreciate the fact that we have the capacity to recognise that it is delicious, and tuck in!

Sunday, 2 May 2010

Was kinda weird, my body was going through the motions of a panic attack - hyperventilation, clenched fists, pins and needles (in this case both figurative and literal). Yet my rational mind was completely lucid, and bewildered throughout.

The whole time the brain was thinking, "Well this is odd... Hey! My hands are pincers!". While the body was doing all sorts of weird things and required 3 people to carry me to the nearest bed. Everytime I tried to speak, I'd be crying instead. It was pretty trippy.

Where the brain was fascinated and wanted to prolong the event. The body was scared witless and freaking itself out.

Yup, my body has finally divorced itself from my brain.

All this coz of a coupla pins in a swollen ankle. Rar. I gotta go back tmw and do again too. Doctors orders.